Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,446
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,134
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,696
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$57,580
Kept after tax
$48,446
Worth in national money
$54,696
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $57,580, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 14.38% above the national middle.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 268 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,580 the take-home is $48,446; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,696 would nationally. The average comes to $59,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance, at $57,580 — about 14.38% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance ranks 268 of 460 occupations in North Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance in North Dakota, on $57,580, is $48,446 — equivalent to $54,696 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $59,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,030 |
| This salary | $57,580 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in North Dakota | $48,446 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,446 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,842 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $57,580 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,856 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,580 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,560 and the ninetieth is $82,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $48,446, from $57,580, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 268 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $54,696, the adjusted value of that $57,580 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 268 of 460 locally.
- The North Dakota median of $57,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,560 to $82,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,446 from $57,580. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 268 of 460 locally.
- This $54,696 adjusted figure, worked from $57,580, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 268 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 268 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $59,450, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,560 and the top tenth $82,030 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $54,696.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and North Dakota's own levy, $48,446 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in North Dakota is $59,450. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,560) and the ninetieth ($82,030) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $54,696 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $48,446 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.